Chapter 25-Planning a way out

Scott's P.O.V

Scott sat inside of his camp sharpening his knife. "Are we just going to sit here and wait, Scott?" Dave asks as he walks up to him.

"Yes, we are," Scott answers. "They're expecting us to attack right now. We need to wait for them to drop their guard," Scott tells him as Tony walks up to them.

"The run group is back," Tony tells them and Scott nods as he stands up and follows Tony to three men.

"How did it go, Matt?" Scott asks.

"Good," Matt says. "We found something. A herd, bigger than anything we've ever seen, coming right out of Atlanta."

"You know where it is now?" Scott asks.

"I got Justin and Dan tracking it, Randall radioed us and told us what happened. We finding these assholes?" Matt asks.

"We might be," Scott says with a smirk. "Radio Justin, find out how far this herd is from here."

Rick's P.O.V

Rick, Daryl, Glenn, T-dog, Madison, and Travis stood around the truck. "This isn't a bad plan," Travis says. "We should have some cars ready to go if we need them," Travis says.

"We should be ready to go at any given moment," Daryl says. "Walkers and now that group out there, we should be prepared. If we're end up back on the road, it will be easier if we have supplies."

"We could have everybody pack a bag," Glenn says. "Load them up the cars and make sure they are facing the road. Load some into the R.V. If things do go south, we take Daryl's bike, the R.V the truck, Carol's car and jeep out of here."

"We should start moving inside as well," Rick says. "Winter is coming and if they do find us, they could have a sniper, pick us off as we come out of the tents."

"It will be tight fit, all of us in the house," Madison says.

"Daryl could stay in the R.V with Amy," Glenn offers making the redneck look at him. "You and Amy take the bed, I know Dale has enough room and him and Andrea to sleep in there, that gets rid of three people, we could put some in the basement and then spread out around the house."

"Alright," Travis says. "Rick, start talking with people, get them to start packing bags, Madison, go see Liza, make sure we have plenty of medical supplies loaded up, Glenn, you and Dale can handle food and gas, I'll start working on getting everybody inside and moving the cars. Daryl, grab Merle and start sorting the guns, each car should have a couple, we'll load the rest of them into the R.V."

"Let's get to work," Glenn says as they separate.

T-dog's P.O.V

T-dog and Jim put David's body in the back of the truck. "Did any of those cars run?" T-dog asks.

"One of those Humvee's did," Jim answers.

"Lexi and Chase have been loading up bags with supplies, I say we take what we have and head home, we should be able to get home by tomorrow evening if we leave within the next two hours," T-dog tells him. "We don't need to lose anybody else."

"I'll start helping Chase and Lexi get bags in the truck and Humvee, I'll drive it," Jim tells T-dog who nods as he walks away.

Lori's P.O.V

Lori walks up to Rick as he talks to Dale. "Dale could we have a moment?" Lori asks Dale who nods as he walks away. Rick looks at Lori.

"What's wrong?" Rick asks her.

"I'm...I'm pregnant," Lori tells him. Rick stares at her for a moment before he runs his hands through his hair.

"How long?" Rick asks.

"I found out a couple of days ago," Lori tells him. "Rick-"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?" Rick growls.

"Because I was scared," Lori says softly. "I don't know what to do here, Rick. I was going to abort it but Alicia talked me out of it, even Merle helped a little."

"Merle and Alicia know? You told them before you told me?"

"Alicia got me the damn test," Lori says. "Rick, I don't know what is going to happen, how can I bring a baby into this world? Tell me how we can do this?"

"We'll figure it out," Rick says after he takes a deep breath. He stays silent for a moment. "I know it isn't mine."

Lori nods as Rick walks away.

Merle's P.O.V

Merle puts a handgun in a bag and sets it down. "I'm surprised they trusted me with this task, baby brother."

"They have Daryl as your supervisor," Amy says as she walks up to them. "I'm here to gather what you have so far."

"Black one's for Carol's car, and the white one will go in the jeep," Daryl tells his girlfriend who nods as she picks them up.

"Behave boys," Amy says before she walks away.

"I do not know how you managed to get her baby brother."

"Neither do I," Daryl says. "We're moving everybody inside, don't want anybody to be out in the open in case those assholes find us."

"I think I'll be just fine," Merle says.

"Can you at least sleep in a car or the barn?" Daryl asks. "They could easily hit you coming out of that tent."

"I'll sleep in the back of the truck," Merle says after a moment and Daryl nods.

Glenn's P.O.V

Glenn put a bag on the table and looks at Dale. "You've been quiet," Glenn says.

"I've been thinking," Dale says. "It's been a lot, the last couple of days. Now we're preparing to flee from a place that could actually be a home."

"We'll be fine," Glenn says. "Regardless of if we are on the road or at the farm, if we lose the farm there is something else out there. Something that could be better."

"Some of these people have never killed walkers," Dale says.

"They'll have to learn on the road," Glenn says. "We'll figure it out Dale, this group, we'll be fine, I know it. Soon T-dog will come back and we'll all be together again. We'll be fine."

"I hope you're right."

Hershel's P.O.V

Hershel walked up to Daryl as he came out of the R.V. "How is it going?"

"Good, I'm about to head out with Rick and Daniel, get the cars in position. Just in case we need them," Daryl tells him. "What's up?"

"I would like to ask you for a favor," Hershel says. "It seems our time here could be coming to and end, and I would like to bury my wife before we must leave if that is to happen."

"We can get the group together, go deal with it," Daryl says.

"No," Hershel says. "I do not want Beth watching what has to happen. Just a couple of people, deal with this quickly."

Daryl stares at the older man for a moment and nods. "I'll ask Ofelia to go with Rick and Daniel. I'll get Alicia, Amy, Madison, and Andrea and we'll get it done," Daryl tells the older man who nods.

"I am coming with you," Hershel tells Daryl who nods as he walks away, neither of the men knowing someone was listening.

Carl's P.O.V

Carl sat in the loft of the barn watching as everybody worked. He watched Carol and Sophia as they carried their bags out to the cars. "Sweetie, what are you doing up here?" Carl turns his head and looks at Lori as she stops behind him.

"I've already packed my bag," Carl tells his mother who nods as she sits down beside him.

"I know, but why are you up here?" Lori asks.

"Do you think Shane is alive?" Carl asks Lori.

"I think there is a very good chance, yes," Lori answers. "Carl, what's wrong?"

"I'm worried," Carl says after a moment. "I don't want to lose you or Dad."

Lori smiles as she lays her hand on his shoulder. "Someday you will," Lori says softly. "A child is meant to outlive their parents, I hope that I am alive for a long time, Carl. To be here for you, but in the world, I cannot promise anything."

Carl slowly nods as Lori wraps her arms around her son. "I wanna help more," Carl says.

"How do you want to help?" Lori asks.

"I wanna do runs and help protect the camp," Carl says.

"Let's wait until we've dealt with the group and I'll talk with your father about giving you more training but you're not ready to go out there yet," Lori tells Carl. "Alright?" Carl nods.

Travis's P.O.V

Travis parks one of the cars on the edge of the woods and climbs out of it. He looks at Nick as he climbs out of the other one. "Why are we doing this? We have the other cars being loaded up with supplies?" Nick asks.

"We might not be able to get to them," Travis tells his stepson. "This way if we get pushed back into the woods, we have a way to escape and some supplies, if we can all manage to get in the cars, we can come back here, get the supplies and keep going," Travis tells his son "They are well enough hidden that nobody is going to find them easily."

Nick nods as he looks around. "You think you can kill someone, Travis?" Nick asks making the man look at him.

"We don't have a choice," Travis says.

"We do," Nick says. "We could leave, find somewhere else, avoid this conflict with this group, we could be out by tonight,"

"What about T-dog and the group with him, we just leave, they'll be alone," Travis says. "We don't know if there is anywhere else out there, Nick. We have to try," Travis says. "Come on, if we leave now, we'll get back by nightfall," Travis says as he goes into the woods and Nick follows.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl loaded his gun and put it in it's holster as Hershel walks over to him. "Are we ready?" Hershel asks.

"Yeah," Daryl says. "The others are waiting by the fence," Daryl tells Hershel who nods as they walk towards the fence. Amy, Andrea, Madison and Alicia were waiting.

"Are we sure we shouldn't get more people?" Amy asks.

"Yeah, I'll be able to take out a couple of them from the rafters. After we'll open the doors and them a couple of them out, control it, we have our guns if they are need," Daryl says. The girls nod as they climb over the fence. They start to walk through the field in silent. Hershel's farm soon comes into view and they stop when they see the barn that was on fire. Hershel starts running first followed by the others as they quickly cross the field and climbs over the fence as the barn starts to crumbled. They get to the front of the barn and see Chris as he stands in front of the barn.

"What did you do?" Hershel asks.

"I saved your lives."

Thanks for reading, next chapter, Hershel deals with the destruction of the barn, T-dog returns and Scott makes his move. As always suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.